Electrical – Outlet Change with 4 Hot Wires

electricalreceptaclewiring

I was swapping a standard outlet in my kitchen out for one with USB ports in it. When I cracked it open, I noticed the existing outlet had 4 hot wires on it (2 black connected to the upper hot terminal and 2 red conncect to the lower hot terminal), with one white and a ground (See Photo) I opened the other outlets around my kitchen and it appeared they were all wired this way in series.

The new USB outlet only has one hot terminal. Initially I pigtailed all four of the hot wires together and attached to the new hot terminal. I flipped the breaker on and it overloaded.

Next I removed the two red wires from the pigtail and twisted them off together without connecting them to the new outlet. Then I connected only the two black in pigtail to the hot and everything seems to work fine now.

Does this seem OK? Any advice? Thanks for the help![enter image description here]1

Best Answer

Critical issues here :

  • Side tab cut, not broken off. That is not safe as the 240V between them could easily arc, illegal per NEC 110.3 as the receptacle's instructions say to break off the tab entirely, not cut it. This defeats the safety testing done by UL since UL did not test it that way.
  • Backstabs are not compatible with 12AWG wire, the wire size now required in kitchens.
  • Bending the wires onto the screws is very shabbily done (poor conductivity, and NEC 110.12).
  • Backstabs and screws both in use (I believe that's not allowed).
  • Two separate circuits feeding the same yoke, but they are not handle-tied for common maintenance shut-off. (Alternatively, a 2-pole breaker can be used to accomplish the handle-tie, but never a double-stuff/duplex/2-in-1-space type.)
  • Neutral must be pigtailed - correct. This is so a receptacle can be removed without severing neutral for the other circuit.

The fix is what you did: pigtail the hots and use screws only. Do that on the other receptacles... or, switch to the $3 Leviton screw-to-clamp type, which support 2 wires under each screw. And break the tabs off properly, they have break lines, a few flexes should do it.

When you are able, put the 2 circuits on a 2-pole breaker or handle-tie them.

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